Viking Versus Giants: Jotun Now Kickstarting
Shadow of the Colossus inspirations
Say the name Thora and I'll think of dear Thora Hird or Thora Birch, entirely missing its origins as the feminine version of Thor. Seeing Jotun makes this smack-bang blindingly obvious. Not one to give an Alan Bennett monologue or act precocious, she's more into slaying giants. Giant giants.
"Imagine the mysterious romantic mood of Journey mixed with the scale of the boss fights in Shadow of the Colossus in top-down 2D," developers Thunder Lotus Games suggest. Don't mind if I do! If you enjoy imagining that enough, you mighty fancy helping make it unimaginary. Thunder Lotus are running a Kickstarter for Jotun, do you see?
Thora's stuck in a Viking purgatory after dying a dishonourable death, and apparently the way out is through the shins, spines and faces of some really very large elemental giants. The plan's to mix procedurally-generated wandering and puzzling with deadly combat inspired by Dark Souls and The Legend of Zelda games, which is a curious mix. Unfortunately, all we have to go on for now are descriptions, concept art, and a few fine animated scenes. But we all understand that Kickstarters are dreams and not promises, right?
Thunder Lotus are trying to raise $50,000 Canadian (£27 grand) to hire an artist and a programmer and rent office space, planning to finish Jotun by September 2015. Pledging at least $15 CAD (about £8.25) would get you a copy of the finished game. Here's the pitch: